Improvement in steam-plows



A. W. HALL. STEAM PLOW..

No. 38,260. y Patented Apr. 21, 1863.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

A. W. HALL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND B. W. ROBINSON, OF SOUTH READING, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-PLows.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,260, datcd April v21, 1563.

To all 'whom 'it may concern.

Be it known that I, A. W. HALL, ofthe city and county of St. Louis, and State ot' Missoni i, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Steam-Flows; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full' and .clear description thereof, reference heing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon and made to form a part of this specification.

l am aware that many inventions and devices have been essnyed with a view tothe employment of steam as a motive power in plowing; hut all such devices have failed to he adopted into general use for various reasons, among which may be mentioned, lirst, the enormous expense attending the lconstruction of said devices; and, second, their great weight4 has rendered them impracticahle for plowing in soft ground;

The object of my invention is the construction of a device which may be free from the above objections and by means ot which the plowing of the various kinds of soil may be rapidly and cheaply performed, steam being employed as a motive power; and the nature ,of my invention relates to the arrangement or employment of an ordinary portable steam-engine, in combination with a series of adjustable traction pulleys or rollers, to he used in con-` necton with a rope or chain stretched across the field and suitably anchored or fastened at each end, as hereinafter set forth, specified, and

represented.

In reference to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention,

represented as' being arranged upon an ordinary wagon-truck, a small portion of the frame! work being broken out in order to represent the mode of adjusting the pulleys or rollers. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, representing one set of the traction-pulleys.l

E represents the pulley-traine, firmly secured to the hed A.

f j" represent a series of tractioii-pulleys pro- .vidcd at their ends with cog gear-wheels.

g represents intermediate gear-wheels, which are adapted to mesh and work into the cogwheels of pulleysj. The pulleysfand wheels g are provided with suitable journalswhich are adapted to work in fixed bearings in uprights h of frame E. The journal-bearings of pulleys f are adj ust-able vertically by means of the setscrewsk in such manner as to secure the necessary friction or iinpingement upon the rope m. The saidv pulleys f f may belformed with grooves t', Fig. 2, which is adapted to receive the rope m and prevent it from being too much flattened or otherwise .injured hy compression between thepulleys ff', while at the same time they are adapted to grasp and facilitate the necessary traction upon the said rope. The driving-pulleyf" of the series ff will be provided with a shaft extending beyond the uprights h, and formed with a crank or cranks, by means of which said pulleys may receive motion from the. engine.

fn. represents a gang of plows, which may be attached to the machine. It is intended to use plows with reversible shares, so that the said plows may be made to operate backward and forward upon the same s ide of the land to be plowed, and the attachment for the plows will be ot' such character that theplows may be made to operate at either end' of the machine.

Having thus described the construction of my invention, I will brieiy set forth the Inode of operatingvthe same.

The rope m, which may he of any desired length adapted to the sizeof the field to be plowed, will be stretched across and properly secured-or anchored at each end of the field, being first passed through -hetween the traction-pulleys f f. The pulleys j" will be adjusted, as before descrihed,so as to secure the proper traction or impingement upon the rope. The engineA will then he started, by means of which the series of pulleys f f', through the medium of the driving-pulleyf and wheels g, will be made to rotate upon the rope m, thereby drawing the machine and plows forward across the field. The rope will then be suit-ably adjusted, the plows reversed and attached to the other end of the machine, and the rotation of the pulleys reversed. The machine will then return across the field, drawing the plows as before. This operation may be repeated, changing the position of and anchoring the rope at proper intervals, until the plowf ing may be accomplished.

I do not wish to confine myself to any-peculiar kind or style ofboiler or engine, or to the employment of a single engine, as itis obvious that various applications of power may be em, ployed without departing from the spirit of my invention. Neither do I wish to confine myself to the use of a single rope or chain,

obvious the same may be varied without deviating from the gist ot" my invention; but,

Having described the construction and operation of my improvement, what I do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The employment of a steam engine or its equivalent motive power, in combination with a series of two or more traction-pulleys, f f,`to

be used in connection with a rope extended across and properly secured at each end of the field, all being constructed and arranged to operateiu such manner that the said motive power may be made to draw itself and the gang ot plows attached across the iield, substanlially as herein described and represented.

In testimony of which invention I/have hereunto set my hand and seal this 3d day of January, 1863.

A. W. HALL. lL. 8.] [n presence of- H. E. CLIFTON, A. E. SWIFT. 

